Outdoor clothes dryer



Jan. 19, 1960 v R. w. scHwEYER 2,921,696

OUTDOOR CLOTHES DRYER Filed June 4, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l' Z- ZZ o iid /ZE/ 175'/ IN VENTOR I 'enlazar 5mn/:yup

ATTQRNEY `Ian. 19, 1960 R. w. scHwEYl-:R

OUTDOOR CLOTHES DRYER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 4, 1958 INVENTOR Bmd, M flu/fd ATTORNEY United States Patent O OUTDOOR CLOTHES DRYER Robert W. Schweyer, Emmaus, Pa.

Application June 4, 1958, Serial No. 739,906 9 Claims. (Cl. 211-178) This invention relates to a collapsible clothes dryer of the umbrella type such as generally exemplied inv the United States patents to Midouhas 2,459,110, of January ll, 1949, and to Hagar 2,802,579, of August 13, 1957.

In such dryers opposed pairs of radial arms extending from opposite sides of a central supporting standard carry between their free ends horizontal relatively parallel clothes line supports between which are strung a plurality of parallel lines. Such dryers are customarily collapsible by swinging of their radial arms in vertical planes into substantial parallelism with each other and with the central standard. This has necessitated elther that the parallel line supports be composed of pivotally connected sections with inherent weakness, complexity, andincreased expense, or else has required that the two supporting arms of each pair be arranged to collapse in opposite vertical directions, the unitary support in each case being permanently universally connected to the free ends of these arms. This latter arrangement has involved a somewhat complicated construction and operation and the geometric arrangement of the parts has imposed certain undesired limitations on the proportions of the respective parts.

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved dryer of the above type which permits use of completely rigid unitary line supports in conjunction with a more or less standard supporting structure radial supporting arms, all of which are swingable vertically in the same direction to erect or collapse the dryer.

To this end each such support is universally connected to one of its supporting arms and is detachably connected to the other said arm whereby in the collapsed condition of the dryer it may be swung about its universal connection into substantial parallelism with the standard and the various supporting arms and, as an incident to erection of the dryer, the said detachable connection between theline support and its said other arm is automatically established.

A particularly novel feature of the invention consists in the structure of the detachable connection which comprises a hook appropriately positioned on the support for engagement with a cooperating eyelet carried at the free end of its other said arm. For guiding the hook automatically through and into operative engagement with the eyelet, the free end of the hook has connected thereto a exible tension element which is slidably threaded through the eyelet and then connected either to the central standard or some other portion of the dryer, such as another arm thereof, with respect to which the eyelet bearing arm recedes during its movement to operative position. The arrangement is such that the movement of thefree end of the arm bearing the eyelet will draw the flexibletensionelement substantially taut thereby guiding the free end of the hook toward and through the eyelet as the arms are swung to fully erectedl operative position.

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Conversely, `the foregoing arrangement will result in automatic withdrawal of the hook from' its eyelet incident to collapsing of the device and the slackening of the vtension element incident to such collapsing will pervmit.,downward swinging of the support about its universalconnection to a position in substantial parallelism Withthe collapsed arms and other members of the structure.y rhis will obviously facilitate storage, packaging ,and shipping ofthe dryers in fully assembled condition.

.A.device exemplifying the preferred embodiment of -my ,invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. lrepresents a plan View of a clothes dryer constructed in accordance with the invention, the dryer being in its erected ,operative condition;

lFig. 2 a front elevationY of the dryer shown in Fig. 1, the central'supporting standard being shown but fragmentarily;

Fig. 3 a front elevation similar to Pig. 2 but with the dryer in a substantially collapsed condition preparatory to storage; l

A an enlarged detail section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5 an .enlarged fragmentary elevation of the de- `tachable connection between oneof the supporting arms audits associated line support, same being taken on the .line-S-S ofFig. 6; and

aplan view partlyinsection showing the detachable connection of Fig. 5.

Referringnowin detail .tothe accompanying drawings, the structure of the main portion of the device shown is largelyconventional. Such device comprises a central .preferably tubular supporting standard 10 which will normallyhave its lower end, not shown, supported 1n a ,vertical socket or .otherwise supported in upright generallyvertical position.

Vertically slideably disposed about the standard-10 is an annular collar 12 most clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 having suitably arranged brackets orclevises 13 within lwhich are pivoted at 14 the inner ends of a plurality of armslS and 16. rhese arms are arranged in pairs 1S- 41.5 and 16-16, the armsof each pair being in relatively dlverging relation from their pivotal connections 14 to the collar VMaud post or standard 10. It will be seen that the respective pairsfof arms 15-15 and 16--16 are arranged in symmetrical relation on opposite sides of the vertical standard 1i) and the'arms are swingable about ltheir respective pivots `lil. in vertical planes which radiate fromthe major vertical axis of the `standard 10.

Fortlie purpose of raising and lowering the arms 15, -16 automatically incident to raising or lowering of the collarl there is provided in association with each such arm a rigid link 117 pivoted to the mid-section of said arm asat 18, and also pivotally connected at 19 to a clevis V2t) carried by a collar -21 xed at the upper end of the standard 16.

Carried at the free ends of the arms 15-15 and 16- 16 of each pair is a rigid rectilinearrope support 22. It willbe seen that these rope supports 22. `are disposed horizontally and in relatively spaced parallel relation to each other in the erected operative position of the dryer, wherebya plurality of relatively parallel clothes line segments L may -be strung between them in usual manner as is indi- Vcated in Fig. l.

theerected condition of the device is substantially as disclosedvin the Midouhas patent, above mentioned, except that lthe supports 22 are each of rigid construction throughout and are associated with their respective arms for erection and collapsing in a novel and highly useful manner, as willhereinafter appear.

Since'the respective rope supports 22 are Vsupported by and coact Vwith their respective pairs of arms 15-15 and .i6-'16m identical manner it will A sufice to describe in detail only the construction and operation of the support carried by the arms 1'5-15. It will be seen by reference to Figs.V 2 and V3 that adjacent one end Vthe support 22 is universally lconnected to the Afree end of one arm 15,

the universal connection preferably being of the permanent type and exemplied by the two eyelet bolts 23 and 24 having their eyelets interconnected in usual manner.

YFlhe stem'23 of the bolt 23 is preferably rotatably secured in the free end portion of its associated arm`15 and Ysimilarly the stern of `the bolt 24 is rotatably secured in its associated support 22, such rotatable association of the bolt stems with their associated arm and support refspectively contributing to the universal movement thus determined in the preferred embodiment by abutment between the collar 12 and the anged sleeves or bushings 28. As the collar 12 moves downwardly it will be seen that the arms 15 and 16 after they have passed their dead center portion are caused to swing 'upwardly by action of the links 17. The movement toward each other of the free ends of each pair of arms will automatically disengage the hooks 26 from the eyelets 25 permitting the one end of each supportr22V to drop free so that it may swing downwardly about its permanenti'universal conneeton Under' theaction of gravity the supports 22 and their associated clothes lines L will yassume a position substantially as'shown in Fig. 3 and where the dryer structure is to be completely collapsed it is necessary-then only to manually swing the supports 22 about their universal connections into substantial parallelism with the respective collapsed arms 15 and 16 and the standardlt). It will be seen that in the collapsed condidepending therefrom is an eyelet which is arranged for coaction with a hook 26 iixed on the support 22 to Y provide an automatically establishable and disengageable connection incident to the erection and collapsing of the dryer.

' It will be seen that-the hook 26, as best shownin Figs.

' 5 and 6, has its free end operative portion 26a extending generally parallel to the support 22 and toward the eyelets 23 and 24. Thus in the position shown in Fig. 2

' the free end 26a of the hook will be operatively received through the eyelet 25. It willV further be apparent that as the arms 15--15 are swung vertically toward collapsed position and after they have passed their dead center 'position wherein their free ends are the same` level as the collar 13 their free ends will tend to approach each 24 will move the support 22 endwise or to the right in Fig. 2 to disengage the hook portion 26a from the eyelet 25.

YFor thepurpose of automatically reinserting the hook portion 26a through the eyelet25 and for raising the x support 22 about its universal connection 23-24 to perinit this, incident to erection of the dryer, there .is provideda tension or guide element 27, preferably in the form of a exible metal cable which is secured to the freeend of the hook portion 26a. In theform shown,

' the cableV 27 extends into and is iixedly secured within a socket, not shown, in the free end of the hook portion 26a. From the free end 26a of the hook the element 27 extends and is connected to the central supporting standard 1 0. In the preferred embodiment of the invention there is employed but a single such element or cable 27 which extends through diametrically opposed openings in the central standard 10 and has its opposite 'ends connected to the respective hooks 26 of the two supports 22. If the ends of la common cable 27 are thus to be con- ;inected to the respective hooks 26 associated with the opposite pairs of arms 15-15 and 16--16, it is not essential that the cable 27 thus extend through the standard 10 Vnor that it be secured thereto in any way, though this is'desirable in order that the cable may extend radially and generally parallel to its associated arms 15, 16 and thus be disposed in an out-of-the-way position. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated the said cable 27 -ilanged ends in abutment with the standard.

In the operation of the invention, in order to collapse -the dryer from its erected position, as shown in Figs. l

and 2, the collar 12 is manually urged downwardly about the standard Y10 from its uppermost position, which is -operative position. l

tion of the devicethe tension element 27 becomes slack to facilitate the downward swinging of thel supports 22 but the tension element, nevertheless is slidably threaded rthrough the eyelet 25 ofthe respective pairs of arms 15-15 and 16-16. Thus, upon subsequent erection of fthe device as the element 27 Vis drawn substantially taut through the eyelet 25 it will serve both to guide the hook end 26a into said eyelet and to pull itV therethrough into It is believed to be apparentVv from the .foregoing that I have conceived a clothes dryer structure of the collapsible v p unitary and completely rigid construction. Y

, preferred embodiment of my invention simply by way of other and the interconnection between the eyelets. 23 and In this application I have shown and described only the illustration of the preferred mode of practicing the inv'vention. jHowever, l recognize that the structure herein Vshown and described may be mod icd and its details altered in various respects, all without departing from my invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description herein are intended to be merely illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.Y

Having thus described my invention I claim: 1. A collapsible clothes line support comprising a generally vertical supporting standardQa collar vertically slidable ,on said standard, a plurality of :rigid arms hingedly connected to said collar at their inner ends for swinging movement about their inner ends in vertical planes radiating from said standard in angular relation to each other, said arms being in pairs arranged symmetrically onopposite sides of said standard, a link pivotally connected between each said arm and the standard for simultaneously swinging said arms vertically between inoperative collapsed positions substantially parallel to said standardr and operative generally horizontal positions, whereby the free outer ends of adjoining arms are relatively'spread apart during their movement from verticaltoward horizontal position incident to vertical movement of the collar on the standard, in combination with a rigid rectilinear rope support extending and 'supported horizontally between the free outer ends of the arms of each said pair in the operative horizontal position of said arms, said supports respectively extending parallel to each otherin their horizontal position, one end of each said ropesupport being connected tor-the free outer end of one of said arms of its said pair foruniversal angular movement, an eyelet fixed adjacent the free end of the other arm of each saidV pair, a hook carried adjacentV the other end portion of'each said support for removable reception in one of said'eyelets in the operative positions of said arms, said hook having its operative Yfree end directed generally toward said one end of the rope support, and a flexible guide element slidably threaded through said eyelets of lboth said arms and interconnected between the free ends of said hooks of the respective supports for guiding said hooks through their respective eyelets incident to movement of said arms from collapsed to operative position, the length of said guide element being proportioned to draw said element substantially taut as said arms approach their operative posltions.

2. A collapsible clothes line support comprising a generally vertical supporting standard, a collar vertically slidable on said standard, a plurality of rigid arms hingedly connected to said collar at their inner ends for swinging movement about their inner ends in vertical planes radiating from said standard in angular relation to each other, said arms being in pairs arranged symmetrically on opposite sides of said standard, links pivotally connected between each said arm and the standard for simultaneously swinging said arms vertically between inoperative collapsed positions substantially parallel to said standard and operative generally horizontal positions, whereby the free outer ends of adjoining arms are relatively spread apart during their movement from vertical toward horizontal position incident to vertical movement of the collar on the standard, in combination with rigid rectilinear rope supports respectively extending and supported horizontally between the free outer ends of the arms of each said pair in the operative horizontal position of said arms, said supports respectively extending parallel to each other in their horizontal position, one end of each said rope support being connected to the free outer end of one of said arms of its respective pair for universal angular movement, an eyelet fixed adjacent the free end of the other arm of each said pair, a hook carried adjacent the other end portion of each said support for removable reception in one of said eyelets in the operative positions of said arms, said hook having its operative free end directed generally toward said one end of the rope support, and a flexible guide element connected to the free end of each said hook, thence slidably threaded through the eyelet which cooperates with said hook and connected to said standard, to draw 'said hooks through their respective eyelets incident to erection of the dryer.

3. A collapsible clothes dryer comprising a supporting Y frame including a central supporting element, a plurality of rigid arms hingedly connected to said element at their inner ends for swinging movement in vertical planes radiating from said element, said arms being swingable from collapsed generally vertical positions to erected generally horizontal positions, rigid rectilinear rope supports carried by said arms for disposition in relatively parallel spaced horizontal relation in the erected positions of said arms, each said support being operatively carried between the free ends of a pair of relatively adjoining arms and connected to one said free end of an arm of its associated pair of arms for relatively universal angular movement, an eyelet carried at the free end of another arm of each said pair, a hook carried by said support for cooperation with said eyelet, said hook having an operative free end directed generally toward said universal connection, and a exible guide element slidably threaded through said eyelet, and interconnecting the said hook to said central supporting element.

4. A collapsible clothes dryer comprising a supporting frame including a central supporting element, a plurality of rigid arms hingedly connected to said element lat their inner ends for swinging movement in vertical planes radiating from said element, said arms being swingable from collapsed generally vertical positions to erected generally horizontal positions, rigid rectilinear rope supports carried by said arms for disposition in relatively parallel spaced horizontal relation in the erected positions of said arms, each of said supports being operatively carried between the free ends of relatively adjoining arms and connect-ed to one said free end for relatively universal angular movement, an eyelet carried at the other said free end, a hook carried by said support for cooperation with said eyelet, said hook having an operative free end directed generally toward said universal connection, and a ficiiiole guide element slidably threaded through said eyelet, and connecting said hook to a stationary portion of said frame.

5. A collapsible clothes dryer comprising a supporting frame including a. central supporting element, a plurality of rigid arms hingedly connected to said element at their inner ends for swinging movement in vertical planes radiating from said element, said arms being swingable from collapsed generally vertical positions to erected generally horizontal positions, rigid rectilinear rope supports carried by said arms for disposition in relatively parallel spaced horizontal relation in .the erected positions of said arms, each of said supports being operatively carried between the free ends of relatively adjoining arms and connected to one said free end for relatively universal angular movement, an eyelet carried at the other said free end, a hook carried by said support for cooperation with said eyelet, said hook having an operative free end directed generally toward said universal connection, and a flexibleY guide element slidably threaded through said eyelet, and interconnecting said hook to the free end portion of the hook of another said support.

6. A collapsible dryer comprising a generally vertical supporting standard, a pair of rigid arms hingedly associated with said standard rat their inner ends for swinging movement in separate relatively angularly disposed planes radiating from said standard, whereby said arms may be swung from collapsed positions substantially parallel to said standard to generally horizontal erected positions, in combination with a rigid rope support supported horizontally between the other ends of said arms in their erected positions, said rope support being universally connected to the outer end of one said arm, means defining an eyelet adjacent the free end of said other arm, a hook carried by said rope support for operative engagement with said eyelet incident to erection of the arms, said hook having a free operative end directed generally toward said universal connection, for reception in said eyelet in the erected positions of the arms.

7. A collapsible dryer as dened in claim 6, including means secured to said hook and slidably disposed through said eyelet for automatically guiding said hook into operative connection with said eyelet incident to erection of said arms.

8. 'Ihe combination of claim 7 wherein said means comprises a flexible cable connecting the free end of said hook to said standard.

9. The combination of elements dened in claim 8, wherein the length of said cable is proportioned to draw the cable substantially taut as the said arms approach their erected positions.

Pierie Mar. 2, 1954 Hagar Aug. 13, 1957 

